Flames edge out Avalanche in close finish

Mike Cammalleri scored a power-play goal late in the third period and the Calgary Flames broke out of an offensive drought to beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3.

Joe Colborne and Jiri Hudler had two points each and scored goals 2:28 apart.

Centre Sean Monahan also scored and goal-tender Karri Ramo stopped 22 shots for Calgary (15-21-6), who had lost four straight games.

Elsewhere, Brian Gionta scored the tie-breaking goal in the second period, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers 2-1.

At 15:46 of the middle period, Plekanec intercepted a pass behind the Florida net and fed a streaking Gionta in the left circle for the winning score.

Hat-trick hero

John Tavares scored his fifth career hat-trick as the New York Islanders rode a season-high four-goal second period to a win 7-3 over the Dallas Stars.

The seven goals were also a season high for the Islanders, who trailed 2-0 after one before mounting their third multi-goal comeback in their last five games.

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 40 saves in regulation and overtime, then stopped both shots he faced in a shootout as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the New York Rangers 4-3.

Cam Atkinson and centre Ryan Johanssen scored in the shootout for Columbus (19-20-4) who got goals in regulation from Brandon Dubinsky, Atkinson and defenseman James Wisniewski.